The School for Gifted Children
by An0nym0usity
Summary: Welcome to the School for Gifted Children. Here you will be separated into three groups. Spiritual. Where you can train your unnatural ability. Physical. Where you can enhance your physical ability. Mental. Where you can use your mental ability. Or. You can belong to the Branch. Where you are sorted in, if you possess more than one group, or if you are more dangerous. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is my story about the Big Four. Mainly inspired by Hogwarts The Big Four. But I thought, maybe they could have the same magical school for gifted kids, but just without the wands and all that Harry Potter stuff. So hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Rise of the Guardians, or How to Train Your Dragon, or Brave or Tangled. If only. If only.**

**P.S. Sorry if the beginning is a bit too angsty. But near the end, is going to be our perked up, unusually hyper, fun-loving, Jack Frost we all know. **

Jack's POV

The rain was pouring harder than usual in Burgess that day. Everyone who wasn't crazy or stupid was inside with their families, drinking hot chocolate or turning on the television. Even the very few homeless were sheltering inside the local Red Cross station, celebrating with each other, pretending that they were the families they never had.

Except for one. Jack Frost. He just stood outside one of the family's window, partially hiding, and looking longingly inside. There was a young boy and a little girl inside. The boy was slumped in the couch, eagerly reading a book and the little girl was playing with a doll. It looked so warm and cozy in there, an atmosphere that could only come from having a home and a family. If the scene wasn't painful enough, the mom had come in and gently and lovingly, carried the sleepy girl upstairs. The boy made an exasperated face, but still trudged upstairs.

"Do you know how lucky you are?" Jack thought bitterly, having the nerve to press his hand to the glass.

As usual, spiraling bits of frost came from his fingers and obscured his vision of the family. This seemed to snap Jack out of his daze. He looked at his fingers again. They looked like normal people fingers. You know, five fingers per hand. He looked back longingly at the window, then turned away. Jack didn't feel the need to wound himself anymore. He pulled up his hoodie and slowly walked back home. Jack was not normal. He had a gift, or a curse, depending on which way you looked at it. He had this strange ability to manipulate the cold. The puddles at his feet turned to ice. The rain when it touched him, froze on his blue hoodie. Whatever he touched, froze, or glazed with frost.

And that wasn't all. Ever since he was born, he was different. He had the palest skin of all the boys, not just regular pale, like pale as white as snow. (Pun intended.) He had bright blue eyes and shockingly pure white hair. Yep, Jack was officially branded a freak. So he was booted out of his home, and forced to live on the streets, for something Jack couldn't even explain. Some things in life just weren't fair.

Jack kept on walking home, or at least the makeshift tent he called home. It was propped up against the side of a dirty old restaurant. It was basically a bunch of clothes Jack had stolen, tried sewing up together and propped up on a stick. He sighed as he got back here.

"Home sweet home, I guess," Jack sighed, getting on his knees and crawling inside.

He froze the top of the tarp, so the water would just slide off, instead of soaking through the clothes. Jack sighed again and leaned against the wall.

"Merry Christmas," Jack thought miserably.

Maybe there was a time in his life, where those two words would be thrown around carelessly. But for now, Jack would keep them, treasured, waiting for the day when he would actually use them. His eyes started to close, when he caught sight of an envelope. His eyes snapped open. What? He took a closer look towards it.

"What the-"Jack muttered.

It was a fancy letter, with the envelop all shiny and black. Written in gold letters on the front were the words

_To Jackson Overland Frost_

Jack turned his head to look both ways. Maybe there was some other random guy named Jackson Overland Frost who had dropped this, because there was no way that this could actually be him. Because he was a nobody. A homeless person among thousands. But a small glimmer of hope started inside him. Maybe his family wanted him back. He carefully turned the envelope over. A fancy wax seal was on the back. He didn't even care to look at the symbol as he ripped open the cover of the envelope. A folded piece of paper floated out as Jack eagerly grabbed for it. As he read it, his hopes were dashed.

_Dear Jackson Overland Frost,_

_You have just been accepted to The School for Gifted Children (TSGC). This school trains gifted children, such as you, to control and use their gifts to better the world. An opportunity like this does not come again. If you wish to apply, go to your nearest train station and show him the seal on this envelope tomorrow__at precisely 12:00. You cannot be any earlier or later otherwise the train will leave without you. Bring only your prized possessions since you may not return back. Clothes and food will be provided. We welcome you to our school._

_Headmaster, Man in the Moon_

Jack was about to throw it away, crumple the letter and kick it away. This was probably some joke or prank by somebody. But a small voice inside Jack's head said, "What if it isn't?"

It probably was a trap though, probably some random kidnapper or something. But the small voice kept being annoyingly persistent. "What if it isn't?". Jack groaned and pressed his hands to his head. This continued for several hours and well into the night. Jack crawled out of his tent and rumpled his shockingly white hair with his hands. Then he did what he always did when he was confused. Almost like a robot, Jack moved to the stairs hanging outside the restaurant and climbed up to the roof. Then he sat down, with his feet dangling off the roof, his face angled to meet the moon's rays. The moon both angered and comforted him. It was that solid presence in his life, one that would never go away. It was there when nobody was. But that was it. It was just there. It never did anything. When there were times when he looked up at the skies, hoping the moon would unlock something.

Should he really go? What if this was all a hoax? Then almost like a match, the rebellious side of him, the part that had sort of gone into hiding throughout this entire abandonment had sort of snapped up to life. Then, as Jack imagined it, grabbed the sad side of him and slapped him in the face. He was Jack Frost, for goodness' sake. The bane of Burgess. The savior of children from boredom. And what's life without taking risks? Jack's head bobbed up and slowly a grin started spreading on his face. He looked at the horizon, the sun already high up in the sky. How long had he been staring off into oblivion?

"Oh schist," Jack cursed as he flew down the stairs, grabbed the envelope and started sprinting toward the train station that was four hours by foot.

_4 ½ hrs. later (Jack stopped to "get" some ice cream)_

Jack panted as he bent over to catch his breath. Who in their right mind would put a train station so far away from Burgess? It just didn't make sense. Anyway, Jack stood up right and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It already felt overly hot here even though it was 60 degrees. Jack walked nervously to the railroad, trying to restrain his feet from spreading frost on the ground. What train did he have to take? Was he already late? Jack looked frantically, there was no train on the station. He looked at the clock. He barely managed to get here. 11:59.

Believe it or not, it came from nowhere. The moment Jack tore his eyes to check the clock, the train wasn't there. But all of sudden, when he looked back. Jack gasped. Holy God! It was a gleaming black train, with awesome sleek curves and shiny sides. It was enough to make a grown man er, boy cry. The door, which Jack didn't even know was there because he was gawking at the train, slid open and revealed a rather grumpy looking fellow. He looked around his mid-thirties, but he had a head full of dark hair, which was streaked with grey which was sleeked back. He was a kind of guy that you could tell was muscular without even looking at his muscles. You could see it in his stance and in his intimidating green eyes. Oh yeah, Jack would have fun teasing this guy. You could just see uptight in him. He was wearing a stiff collared shirt that couldn't have been comfortable and clean, black slacks.

He smirked and walked his way over to the guy. The guy looked disdainfully at Jack.

"Hey, um, this the train for the Gifted Children School?" Jack said, grinning.

"It's the School for Gifted Children. And yes, and you are actually 30 seconds late. Don't you follow instructions, boy," the guy snapped back, checking a pocket watch that he pulled out of his pocket.

Man, was this guy uptight? He really needed to let go. Relax or something. Do yoga. Suddenly, the idea of this guy wearing purple yoga clothing with an exercise band around his head, doing the downward dog popped into his mind. Jack could barely keep him from snorting out with laughter.

"Look, man, you gotta lighten up. All the envelop said was to give this to you and we'll be off and whatever," Jack said, taking out of the black envelop.

He critically examined the black envelop.

"Don't mess up," he snapped, reluctantly moving aside to let Jack in.

A little bit of Jack fell, but he picked himself up. But as Jack stepped in, he froze the steps with his feet and the conductor slipped and fell.

"Frost!" the conductor yelled, shaking his fist at Jack's retreating back.

As soon as Jack pushed himself through the door, he stood shocked. This train was nice. Even though he had never really been in a train before, he had heard the reputation that trains weren't very good. But this train was freaking awesome! The seats were all silk and black, with black marble tables in between the seats. The hallways were lighted with glowing little lamps on the ceiling. Jack just strolled down the hallway, feeling a little self-conscious because of his really worn down clothes and his bare feet. All of a sudden, more people flooded in to the train. At first it was empty, then there was more students. Some looked around from here, with a regular T-shirt and worn jeans. But some people, he could definitely tell where not from around here. Some people wore linen headscarves around their head and linen pajamas with bare feet like mine. Some had silk dresses with fancy embroidery and their hair all done up with lotus flowers and stuff. But there was a group that came in that really caught his eye. But not in a good way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, people, hope you enjoy this next chapter. Sorry for taking so long! Anyway, Jack meets the whole crew from Berk. They don't exactly fit in perfectly-ish. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer****: I do not own Rotg (I wish I did), or Hotd (if only)**

Jack narrowed his icy blue eyes. They reminded him of the typical popular, arrogant kids back at the town he used to live in. The ones that had grown way too used to pushing around other kids to get what they wanted.

There were five of them. Two of them had football equipment, like shoulder pads and helmets tucked underneath their armpits. They looked like they could be twins, but Jack couldn't really be sure. They were arguing and bickering with slightly glazed blue eyes and long blonde hair. To the left of this group, sort of looked like he was an outcast. Part of the reason because of this whole nerdish aura around him. Maybe it was the anime dragon on his shirt. Or the comic books tucked into his armpit, in his backpack or in his arm right now. He had straw-like blonde hair with bright blue eyes. He looked rounder than the other kids. But that didn't stop him, from easily maneuvering through the crowd, talking at a fevered pace. Next to him was this kind of shortish kid. Jack disliked him at first glance. He looked arrogant and vain. He had greasy black hair plastered all over his face with an upturned nose and squinty black eyes. He had a football helmet tucked under his armpit. Jack shuddered at the thought of him actually putting the helmet on his head. Then there was her.

At first, Jack thought she was some typical Californian chick. She had her blonde hair tied in a braid. She had a tan. Her icy blue eyes scanned the room, as if checking the room for potential danger. Then he saw her stance. Ready, like if any idiot comes in her way, she would be punching faces. She looked like she would take no shit from anybody. Oh yeah, Jack would have fun annoying her. All of a sudden, she stopped when she turned her head to realize that there would were no more empty seats. Her blue eyes zeroed in on this poor kid's head who had taken two seats all by himself. One for himself and one for his backpack. She marched over to him and cleared her throat.

The kid's head turned and almost immediately his expression was transformed into a lovestruck one. Oh boy, Jack thought, rolling his eyes, already hit by Cupid's arrow.

"Hey, kid, you gonna keep all those two seats for yourself, or what?" the girl said, motioning her hand to the kid's backpack.

His gaze did not change. He just kept on staring at her. The expression on his face was like a puppy-face adoration. Oh how cute. It was just like this for an awkward minute before the greasy guy looked suspiciously between the two, stepped forward, grabbed the younger kid by his shirt and pulled him off of the chair. He pushed the backpack off the chair too. But once the backpack hit the floor, something black and shadowy sprung out and lunged toward the guy. Jack's eyes widened. What was it? But when he peered at the guy, now on his back, with a three thin slash marks across his face. Ok, now his attention was officially caught.

"Oh gosh, Snotlout, I am-" said the kid apologetic, gathering his backpack and standing up.

The girl looked interested in this kid, as if sizing him up.

"Hiccup," Snotlout said, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him forward, a menacing look on his face, "I swear, when we get off this train, I will-"

Jack decided enough was enough. He stood up and got in between Hiccup and Snotlout.

"You'll what?" Jack said, with just enough menace in his voice to make the threat sound serious.

He heard Hiccup mutter something behind him but he ignored it. He had enough of this ignorant pig. Jack had always hated people that pushed people around to get what they wanted. They were nothing but cowardly bullies. Snotlout quickly let go of Hiccup's shirt. Jack saw fear in Snotlout's eyes but he also saw that he wanted to impress the blondie and so love makes people stupid. Or at least, in Snotlout's case, stupid people even stupider. So he stuck his beefy chest out and stared Jack in the eye.

"What does it matter to you, freak?" Snotlout sneered.

Jack just stared his icy stare at Snotlout before answering.

"It matters to me because he's being pushed around by a greasy, sweating, cowardly pig like you," Jack replied.

There was a very pregnant silence before the blondie said something.

"Hey, calm down Scotty. Didn't know your name was Snotlout. Not very impressive name for a ripped, awesome, first star football player," snorted Astrid before rolling her eyes and sitting down.

"Well, Astrid, I just-" Snotlout said.

Hmm, her name was Astrid. Seemed to fit her, since Astrid sounded like some sort of Norse warrior goddess. Snotlout turned to Astrid and began sputtering excuses. All of the sudden, talk began to fill the train and the attention was pointed away from the four people. Jack turned around to face the kid who was blushing and looked down.

"You know, you didn't have to do that," Hiccup said, slinging the backpack around him.

Jack got a closer look at him. Not to be mean, but Jack kind of felt that the weird name fitted him. He was scrawny, unusually so. He had pale skin with freckles all over him. He had sort of longish brown hair that looked like it had never been brushed. And when he finally looked up, Jack saw that he had unusually bright greenish brown eyes. But they were laced with shame.

"Sometimes, kid, just accept the help next time," Jack said, ruffling his hair, seeing that Hiccup was a bit shorter than Jack.

Hiccup scowled and messed it up again. He looked longingly at his seat which had now been occupied by Astrid, the scary blonde girl, Snotlout, the greasy monkey, and the two twins. Jack saw this and rolled his eyes.

"Eh, let's go find another compartment. Seats are overrated anyway," Jack said, motioning his head toward the door.

Hiccup cracked a grin before heading for the door. Maybe Jack had actually got a friend here. Things were starting to look up.

**LINE BREAK**

"So that's why they call you, Hiccup?" Jack said incredulously.

They hadn't managed to find seats, so they squeezed themselves in the luggage compartment. Hiccup was propped up against the wall of the train which occasionally rattled. Hiccup nodded. He had a weird past. His dad was a wrestler, a boxer and a hunter. He was nicknamed Stoick the Vast because he was huge. It was rumored he wrestled a bear and won. By the looks of Hiccup's photos of his dad on his phone, Jack believed it. That guy was huge. Hiccup's mom didn't really come up in the conversation, but Jack had some sense that Hiccup didn't really want to talk about it.

"So, in this entire history conversation, were you going to tell me your name or do I have to just call you Random Guy from now on?" Hiccup said sarcastically.

Jack grinned.

"The name's Jack Frost, but you can call me the Awesome Guy that Saved Your Butt," Jack said smirking.

Hiccup smiled too, but suddenly Hiccup looked down, avoiding Jack's eyes. He seemed to do that a lot. Jack sighed, he was tired of this constant silence. He's had 7 years of silence. He wanted stuff to be loud, explosive, even if he had to cause that noise himself. While Hiccup was fiddling with one of his shoelaces, Jack reached over and snagged his backpack and looked inside. What? There was nothing in here but a baseball hat, a few comics, and a leather-bound book. Hiccup snatched his backpack back.

"Hey, what was that for?" Hiccup said indignantly.

"Sorry. I just though I saw something come out of your backpack and attack Snotlout," Jack said mildly, closely watching Hiccup's face for any sign or reaction.

A flicker of surprise flitted across Hiccup's face. Then it resumed back to its original annoyance. But Jack could still see that Hiccup was nervous.

"Well, you must've been imagining stuff, because I don't keep anything alive. Here. In my backpack. Because that's the only place that anything would be. You know, living," Hiccup stammered, his cheeks glowing.

Jack rolled his eyes. This kid was the most terrible liar he had ever encountered. And Jack had seen a lot. Jack reached in and grabbed the hat and looked at it. It was brown with the edge of the rim tinted silver. The symbol on it was a viking's helmet, slightly dented though. Surprisingly, Jack recognized the symbol. It was way back in the day, when Jack was still 10. Those were the Berk Vikings, huge beefy dudes that pummeled the shit out of some of the hockey players. Hiccup didn't object at Jack's taking of the hat. In fact, he looked at it with such sadness, like a puppy dog would look at it's owner's retreating back. Jack looked up and saw that face, and suddenly the teasing comment on his tongue faded away. Jack handed the hat back carefully. Shyly, Hiccup touched the hat and brought it in front of him, his fingers gently stroking the rim. For a while, Jack waited for him to explain. And just when, Jack thought maybe Hiccup wasn't going to explain, he did.

"Yeah, this hat was my mother's. She loved the Berk Vikings," Hiccup said, before stopping abruptly.

Jack noticed the past tense verbs. Then suddenly the puzzle pieces just fitted together. Why Hiccup didn't want to talk about his mother a lot. An overwhelming sadness filled Jack. No parent should ever leave their kid. Unless they were taken from them. Jack scooted toward Hiccup, who looked like he was about to cry and seemed to regret even taking the hat with him.

"Hey, man, I know it probably won't help. But sorry about your mom," Jack said.

Hiccup seemed to snap out of it. He grinned weakly and gently put the hat back into his backpack. He rubbed his eyes and smiled again. Jack grinned.

"Hey, I know we're friends and all, but if you tell anyone about this whole sap-story moment, I will personally kill you," Hiccup said, standing up and brushing off imaginary dust on his green shirt.

Jack just chuckled and stood up as well. Well this turned out to be much different. All of a sudden, the cart stopped. Hiccup and Jack pitched forward, caught by surprise by this sudden movement. Luckily, Jack managed to catch himself on a tall suitcase. Hiccup however tripped over a suitcase and landed on his back. He groaned with pain.

"Hey, maybe a warning next time, so I don't die" grumbled Hiccup to no one in particular as he got himself up.

Jack wasn't listening though. He climbed up the towering suitcase pile, (really, people, how much stuff do you need just to go to a freaking school) and pushed the roof off a little opening and poked his head out.

"Whoa, man, you have got to see this," Jack murmered, gawking at some of the sights. This place was like a fantasia come to life. There was this huge forest surrounding this enormous castle. This castle looked like straight out of a fairy tale book, with huge twisting spires and large windows. One side of the forest was strangely shadowed by the castle's shadow. That part sort of looked dark and twisted, with gnarled branches. It looked like some sort of poison lived in the shadow, and poisoned all the trees. But the side facing the sun, was all green and bright and pretty and basically spring-princessy. Jack could see small patches in the bright green trees, where he could see crystal clear lakes. This forest stretched out for miles and miles. Surrounding this gigantic forest, where huge mountains, whose tips dipped into the swirling clouds. They sort of looked like blue corn tortilla chips dipped in sour cream placed upside down. A rumbling sound reminded Jack that he was starving. That ice cream cone was hours ago. He looked down and saw Hiccup, squinting up at Jack.

"This place is freaking amazing!" Jack said, excitedly, climbing down the extensive mountain of luggage.

Hiccup's eyes widened. Inside of him, Jack knew he was excited. But there was part of him that felt a bit _doubtful_. What if this was all a joke? If they got to this school, and it turned out to be nothing more than a mirage. That would be the cruelest joke ever. To raise his hopes high. His hopes of starting over. Only to have them crushed. Jack shook these morbid thoughts away and locked them away in a chest inside of them. This was a new life now. No more of these past depressions.

"Come on, Hiccup, time to go," Jack said, racing toward the door.

**Dun, dun, dun! CLIFFHANGER! Don't worry, Merida and Rapunzel will be coming in soon. Anyway, I am soooo excited for How To Train your Dragon 2! Hiccup finally gets puberty! And boy did he get it! I bet Astrid is more happier now, if you know what I mean. ;). Sorry if I made this school too much like Hogwarts. This school is based off of Hogwarts. I know the forest sounds like the Forbidden Forest. And you'll be "sorted" into groups. But don't worry. I have this whole plan thought out (not really). Remember the two important R's. Review and 'Rite. Just pretend "write" starts with an r. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, People! Here is the third chapter! Don't worry, Merida is going to come into this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned this, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it. **

Not for the first time in his life, Hiccup wished he wasn't so skinny and weak. If you came from a family of wrestlers, boxers, hockey players and hunters like he did, you would've thought that he would be more like his cousin Snotlout, with huge muscles and small brain. But fate had a streak of humor or irony. Instead Hiccup turned out to be a skinny, with zip muscles and a brain. The first time he had wished this, was in the first grade when Snoutlout stole his crayons from him. And it continued and continued until every morning, Hiccup would just stare at his skinny reflection in the mirror and just wish for muscles to come. And now of course.

Hiccup groaned as another well-placed kick from Snotlout found his way into his stomach. All the air that he had in his lungs were pushed out, as if someone squeezed his lungs with a fist. He tried to inhale, but he couldn't. He couldn't even manage to take a breath in because his lungs were in shock. He faintly heard Jack yelling in the background. But all Hiccup focused on was this the pain in his stomach. But Snotlout had delivered much worse than this. There were times when he would just lay down on the pavement, because moving hurt too much. Hiccup drew a ragged breath and tried to say "Stop". But the words wouldn't make it past his lips.

Snotlout lifted Hiccup up in the air, as easily as someone would a teddy bear. Hiccup opened his eyes blearily.

"I should've known that you would've done something to embarrass me in front of Astrid!" Snotlout yelled, "I've always known you were trouble,"

Hiccup winced. Sometimes the words were the ones that hurt. His head cleared a bit, now that Snotlout wasn't pummeling him. He looked at Jack, who looked a little bit worse for wear than Hiccup did. Of course, Snotlout jumped him first and when Hiccup tried to intervene, Snotlout directed his rage at Hiccup. What a smart idea! (sarcasm). Now Jack was being held by the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

"Let him go, you pig!" Jack yelled, blood pouring down his nose and a swelling black eye.

Snotlout ignored him.

"This time, I'm gonna teach you a lesson. Never mess with me, cousin," Snotlout said, exaggerating the words.

Then he threw Hiccup to the ground, next to the rail tracks of the train which had left already. Hiccup groaned on impact as he felt the shock roll up his spine and eventually to his head. He almost blacked out. He could hear the sound of heavy boots ,probably Snotlout's, marching up toward him. Then all of a sudden, he heard a solid smack and the tiniest crack of the breaking of bone.

And surprisingly, it wasn't him that was getting hurt. He cracked open his eyes and saw Snotlout, laying on the ground, groaning and clutching his nose. And in front of him, was this girl. Hiccup's eyes traveled up. She was wearing blue jeans which were rolled up to her knees and a blue shirt. And then, oh my god was that hair? On her head, was this wild mane of curly, bright red hair.

"What right de ye have tae be a bully to othr' kids? Donnae make me tell ye again, othr'wise ye'll get a beatin' sae hard, ye won't stand up right again," she shouted, a accent hazing the words she said.

Snotlout managed to stand up.

"C'mon, let's go. I think our lesson was done," Snotlout said, glaring at Hiccup before nodding to the twins and running toward the edge of the platform where the other groups were gone.

The twins nodded to each other, and thrust Jack forward and started running to where Snotlout went. Jack barely managed to catch himself. The violent posture the girl had somewhat melted away.

"Are ye okay?" she said to Jack quickly.

Jack straightened his back, wincing as he heard his bones crack and stretched his arms.

"Eh, I've been worse," he said, in a croaky voice.

The girl turned around, just as Hiccup was trying to get up without pain coursing through his veins. Hiccup's eyes widened. She was pretty, no doubt about that. With pale skin, and large, gleaming blue eyes and an round face, framed by that curly bright hair, there was no doubt at all. She scanned Hiccup's body.

"Are ye okay?" she said, helping him up.

"Well, I probably feel like I'm gonna pass out soon, but honestly, I think I'm okay," said Hiccup in a dazed voice.

She chuckled and forced him to put an arm around her shoulder. Hiccup's face soon grew bright red. What was she doing?

"Lean on me, so ye donnae have tae support all yer body weight," ordered the girl.

Hiccup was ¾ relieved and ¼ disappointed. Wait, disappointed? Where was that emotion coming from? Anyway, he did as she said and he found that he wasn't in so much pain anymore. His spine felt relieved as a bunch of weight lifted off it. Hiccup glanced nervously at the girl, but she looked like she didn't even react to it. She looked reassuringly at both boys and nodded. As if some sort of bond had been formed by the three, when they all looked at each other. Then as if by some sort of magical order or something, they began walking, each of their steps falling in sync, as each step they took, their shadows grew longer.

**LINE BREAK**

Merida knew first days at school were going to be hard. And she knew that this stupid school for "gifted" children was going to be harder. She'd have to appear tough, uh, tougher than she appeared. She'd have to be confident and try to keep a cool head. And she thought she was prepared for everything. Well, except for this.

"Whot dae ye mean, we're lost?" Merida said indignantly, dropping Hiccup.

Hiccup gave a slight yelp as his body crashed into the rocky floor. Merida left him there and put her hands on her hips. Jack turned his head from the wooden carved post.

"Flame-head, as much as I'd like to accommodate you to the school, shut your high-pitched, whiny screamer before I lose my temper," Jack snapped, before turning his head back to the post.

Merida had had enough. You would've thought most people would be glad if you saved their friend from a beating. But no. Not this arrogant, sarcastic, annoying white-haired twit. Merida stomped forward and tightened her grip on Jack's ragged clothes and jerked him down. Jack yelled in surprise. Merida, with a steely gaze in her eyes, pulled her fist back and was about to punch that jerk in the face. Then all of a sudden, Hiccup yelled.

"Wait!"

Merida and Jack froze, and looked at Hiccup who had already gotten up. He walked, with a little limp to the wooden post, as if in a trance.

"I know these signs," Hiccup murmured reverently.

Jack's face blanched, paler than he should be. Merida opened her mouth in surprise, about to talk, but Jack nudged her. Merida turned to him and opened her mouth furiously. Then he put a finger up to his lips and pointed to the scrawnier boy who was muttering weird vowels and sounds. Suddenly the muttering was going faster and faster. Hiccup was almost chanting now. Jack and Merida stood up, both entranced and slightly scared. They could hear a few English letters but that was it. Most of it sounded weird, with some guttural parts. A primal instinct woke up inside both Jack and Merida. This language that Hiccup was speaking, felt like a language spoken a long, long time ago. It warned the suppressed animals inside of them to run, to hide, to make sure to get as far away as possible. So in a word, Merida was officially creeped out.

"Hiccup" Merida yelled.

There was no reaction. Jack began to get worried. They began to say his name several times. They began to get more frantic until they saw his eyes. His normal grass-green mixed with brown eyes were turning bright jade green. His pupils were narrowing. Officially, creeped out, Merida pulled her hand back and slapped Hiccup. Apparently, she hit harder than she expected me because Hiccup staggered backward.

"What in Odin's name was that for?" Hiccup said, looking wide-eyed at Merida.

"Did ya dae that on purpose, ya big twerp?" said Merida, shouting to hide the tremor in her voice.

Jack looked closer at Hiccup. His eyes turned back to normal. And he looked thoroughly confused.

"What did I do?" said Hiccup.

Jack grabbed Merida's hand before she could slap Hiccup again. He whispered to her, "He really doesn't know,". Merida looked suspiciously at Hiccup, as if he was going to start chanting and going crazy. Then, almost reluctantly, she lowered her hand.

"Let's just forget about this and focus about getting to this school, okay?" Jack said, attempting to offer a situation where they could just forget this whole weird encounter.

There was a moment of silence, but the tension was as electrically charged as before.

Then finally Hiccup lowered his gaze and scuffed his shoes on the round stones.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did. But I do know where to go," Hiccup muttered.

Merida's eyebrows quirked up, almost in synch with Jack's. Hiccup was odd. He asked for forgiveness when he didn't even know what he was blamed for. How... interesting.

"Fine, but donnae think t'at this is over. Aye just want tae get out of this stoopid forest," Merida said, crossing her arms.

Hiccup shot a glance at Jack, his eyes widened with fear. Jack only shrugged and twirled his finger around his head. Suddenly Merida turned around and Jack quickly hid his finger.

"So, are ye going tae lead us, or w'at?" Merida demanded to Hiccup.

Hiccup glanced at the sign and nodded. He turned to the three paths. One of them was stone pebbles just like the path they were on. Another one of them was wooden logs, sort of like a wooden bridge. The last was a dirt path, flat. But Hiccup felt there was more to this. Then he remembered what the sign had said. It sort of made him feel light-headed but he remembered the word. _Nettles_. Then a clump caught his eye. It was sort of off the path. He knelt down next to the clump. It looked spiky and weird. It looked familiar. He reached out a hand to touch the leaf.

"Nae! W'at are ye doing? That's stingin' nettle, ya idjit," Merida shouted angrily, pulling his hand away, "If ye touch it, ye'll be scratchin' yer hand so hard, yer skin will peel off,"

Jack hurried over and when he saw the stinging nettle he froze. Merida was too busy reprimanding Hiccup to notice that the ground beneath him froze and had become laced with curly frost.

"I think this is a test, Merida. There's this instinct that says we have to go down this path," said Hiccup.

"Even if aye agreed tae go wit' ye down this stingin' nettle infested path, there's nae way we could even go down there," argued Merida, pointing her finger down the small trail of stinging nettle infested forest.

Jack took a deep breath and pushed Merida and Hiccup aside. Merida yelped from the contact. Jack was freezing. Hiccup however, just looked curiously at Jack. Then he saw the frost trail that Jack left behind. As Merida and Hiccup both peered over Jack's shoulder, what they saw, amazed them. Jack was crouching just a few inches away from the stinging nettle. He knelt down and blew softly on the leaves. Then, something absolutely miraculous happened.

Tiny little curls of frost had curled on the leaves. You could practically see all the tiny little needles that stood straight up, which looked covered in sparkly white. Then Jack reached his hand out and touched the leaf. Merida snapped out of it too late and yelled, "Nae!". But the moment Jack's hand brushed the leaf, it surprisingly snapped. The moment it hit the ground, it dissolved into a little mound of blueish glitter. Then Jack stood up and faced Merida and Hiccup. Merida had a blank face, but you could tell she was suppressing some type of emotion. Hiccup however looked at Jack with a strange expression. It sort of looked like a mixture of fear and surprise. Then Jack spoke.

"Look, I've always been this way and I've never known why. But I'm tired of people judging me. I'm never going to change, not for anyone and not for me. So if you can't accept who I am and what I can do, you should be the one changing, not me," Jack said, his voice rising defiantly until he looked almost looked like he was glaring at them.

The silence was awkward and Merida and Hiccup both looked at each other. Jack tried to hide it, but that hopeful feeling in his chest was deflating. Then the clearing ran with laughter. Large laughter, punctuated with snorts and little chuckles. And it surprisingly came from Merida. The laughter grew larger and larger until both Hiccup and Jack were fighting little chuckles that rose deep within them.

"Whot makes ye think t'at we're gonnae judge ye? Course, ye might be a littl' thick in yer skull, but we've all judged and been judged before," Merida said, her smile fading when she said, "We've all been judged before,"

For a while, the trio just stood there, once again in silence. But this silence was filled with understanding. And for the first time, in a long time, Jack, Merida and Hiccup had hope for a better future, with friends who had been judged and friends who knew and understood.

**Urgh, this one was so horrible. Too many awkward silences between the characters and whatnot. But I wanted to have some friendship bonding moments. I know it's a bit rushed but to me, it feels like they would either be really good friends from the start, or have a fight then be good friends, but that's just me. Anyway, it never hurts to review right? The next one will have a bit more action in it. Sorry, I left it off. I didn't want to bore you with the whole trudging through forest part. Hope you liked it, as I said, reviews never hurt!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so sorry, I haven't updated in so long! My life has been made up solely of homework, math tests and an English book report for the past few months. Not to mention soccer practice, track and field etc. etc. But I'm back! For now. Here is Chapter 4. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rotg, Hotd, Brave or Tangled, or any other movies listed in this chapter.**

Jack's POV

They had just gotten started before the huge handsomely carved wooden doors banged open. All eyes turned toward the sopping wet three teenagers. They had barely managed to get out of that darn forest. Jack straightened up and smoothed back his hair casually. He ruffled his hair to get the water out of his hair. But it was too late. The water froze like little diamonds to his hair. Back when he did go to school, a lot of times Jack had to walk to school in the rain, man, Oregon were a rainy place, and a lot of times Jack's unusually low temperature would cause the water to freeze to his hair. Jack prayed that nobody would notice that his hair was sparkling. Then all of a sudden, loud obnoxious snorts and laughter echoed in the room. And they came from the most unlikeliest of people ever. As if in synch, all heads turned to the laughing. It turned out be this tiny, almost pixie-like 8-year old girl with mischievous brown eyes and a black ponytail.

"Look... his hair is sparkly!" she choked out between fits of laughter.

For about two seconds, it was just her snorting her soul out. Then all of a sudden, this huge great hall erupted in laughter. Jack's cheeks flushed. The thing about having the skin as pale as a vampire was that you could easily see any time when he was blushing. Jack pretended to take a bow while Merida rolled her eyes. Slowly they tried looking for a seat. But all the wooden tables were all taken. Well, there seemed to be just enough room at the fourth table. But that was around that snotty-nosed girl who laughed at Jack. Jack pulled up his hoodie, a habit he had gotten into, and walked toward the girl.

Almost immediately, Jack knew that this would be the group of misfits. Everybody seemed to have their own group in which they turned to talk to. This group would be made up of people who didn't have their own group, so they took it upon themselves to make their own group. Jack's eyes narrowed as he saw the 8-year old girl. He already didn't like her. She seemed like the annoying, irritating sister that Jack never wanted.

"So, Edward Cullen, any reason why your hair is so sparkly" she squeaked out, elbowing Jack.

The 10 year old boy across from her looked like he was about to say something. Then his eyes zeroed in on Jack. It sort of looked like his pupils dilated for a bit and an expression of fear crossed his face. Then he clamped his mouth shut and scooted as far away as he could get from Jack.

"Vanellope," said this blonde girl disapprovingly.

Jack's head turned toward the blonde. Wow. She was beautiful, almost like an angel. This was probably a record for all the beautiful girls Jack had seen today. First Astrid, the hot punching girl, next Merida, the nice-looking, fiery-tempered girl and now her. She had the most natural blonde colored hair, Jack had ever seen. He knew plenty of girls who would kill for that hair. The thing was that it was braided. And it was a really long braid. It barely managed to brush the floor. She had the clearest brightest green eyes and an award-winning smile. But Jack had his doubts. Often, if the girl was pretty, her personality was like a bad-tempered bulldog.

Vanellope, (what kind of name was that?), turned her head back to the girl. And even dared to stick her tongue out.

"You can't tell me what to do, Rapunzel," Vanellope said, crossing her arms.

Rapunzel? Vanellope? What was next, Dunderheidenshmoofer? What was with this group and weird names? But, Jack thought, Rapunzel was oddly… fitting for this girl.

"Hi, my name is Rapunzel, and this is Vanellope Von Schweetz and he is Norman Babcock," said Rapunzel, extending her hand out, and motioning with her hand to Vanellope and the 10 year old.

Jack cautiously extended his hand out. Almost immediately, Rapunzel grabbed it, and then she yelped and pulled her hand back. Jack narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Was this some sort of joke?

"Wow, you are really cold. Are you okay?" Rapunzel said, poking his skin and looking worriedly at Jack.

A lump caught in his throat. He hadn't remembered anybody who had looked at him like that, with that much genuine care and kindness laced together. Suddenly she looked a whole lot more naturally beautiful, with brighter green eyes and gentle smile. Jack tried to think of something cool to say, as thanks for Rapunzel.

"Umm, wouldn't you be if you walked in the rain?" Jack offered weakly, elbowing Merida who opened her mouth to talk.

Merida turned annoyed, to Jack who was silently beating himself up for saying that. She nodded in understanding. Rapunzel just looked confusedly and a little downcast at them.

"Oh, I guess so, but-" Rapunzel said but was interrupted by a jingling sound. All of a sudden, everybody's heads turned to down the table, because that was where the noise was coming. Jack craned his head to see and saw one of the strangest sights ever. They were little people, almost the size of a 4 year old baby. They had bright, almost electrical brown eyes. They sort of looked like crazy grandparents that got stuck in a 4 year olds body or the Thing 1 and Thing 2 of Dr. Seuss. They wore sort of Christmas-tree shaped jump suits, red, with a tinkling bell on top. The front two pointy-eared things blasted tiny little trumpets that sounded abnormally loud. The second row of pointy-eared things did amazing stuff like cartwheeling and gymnastics routines. Then the rest of the Things started just marching across.

Then, one of the most magical things, Jack had ever seen in his life happen. There were two Things at the side. They threw plates up in the air, and when it came down, it came down with some of the hugest platters of food Jack had ever seen. Now Jack wasn't an expert when it came to fine dining. His idea of fine dining was a 5 piece Chicken MgNugget and a bottle of water. But this was like Thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays all combined. Huge plates of stuffed turkey. Bowls of creamy looking mashed potatoes and gravy on top. Boxes of pizza, every type imaginable. Giant bowls of spaghetti and mac-n-cheese. And then there was the holy grail of all the foods. It was a plate of neatly stacked cheeseburgers. With the cheese all melty and aroma of the meat drifting in the air. Not to mention the golden crown of French fries Jack was in paradise. It wasn't long for Jack to snap out of his haze. He reached his hand out and piled his plate with cheeseburgers and fries with potato chips and everything. And in his rush to shove everything in his mouth, he forgot about his powers.

Jack liked to pretend he could store his powers, like energy, into little batteries. Then he would stack them inside of himself and sort of switch off his powers. For the past few years, Jack had to do this when he was eating, otherwise the food he would eat would turn into a solid lump of ice. He was just about to swallow a French fry before he froze the French fry. Jack panicked and just barely managed to stuff that French fry down his esophagus. He turned around, coughing and eyes streaming to see how Merida and Hiccup were faring. And Merida had an appetite.

She had piled her plate high with chicken legs and even this gross mushy stuff that looked like messed-up meatloaf (A/N No offense to anyone who is Scottish or Irish. I am just going by looks on Disney). Surprisingly she had a small bowl of salad, two apples and a pile of what looked like a mix of blueberries and blackberries. She had a wooden keg-like cup which she drank deeply from. Hiccup however had a pile of smoked fish with another wooden keg-like cup. Jack looked at the plate of smoked fish and found something striped inside. He took his fork and peeled it out.

"Aw, that is nasty" Jack said as he looked at the smoked eel.

"T'at's actually naught t'at bad. Me dad used to eat it all the time," Merida said, after swallowing a bite of turkey.

"Oh, you eat meat?" said Rapunzel, looking down at her small pile of salad and a bowl of brown soup.

Then all of a sudden Jack heard this big animalistic screech followed by a sudden crash. He saw Hiccup on the floor with one of his legs stuck up in the air. It was silent before Merida started snorting and laughing followed soon by Vanellope. Soon even Rapunzel and Jack was chuckling. He stopped once he looked at Hiccup. Once he got up, Jack could've sworn that he saw his eyes flash bright jade green. But must've been a trick of the light. When Hiccup got back down on his seat, he chuckled nervously.

"I don't really like eel," he said nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, Aye do, and if ye are nae gonnae eat t'at, I will," Merida said defiantly before stabbing her fork through the eel's head and began eating it ferociously. It was almost in an animalistic way. Then she finished, wiped her mouth roughly on her hands and looked at them daringly.

"Wot? I like eel," she said before picking up a berry, tossing it up into the air and snapping it up in her mouth.

The rest of dinner went on almost uneventfully until we were all tired and sleepy-eyed. I felt uncomfortable in this warm atmosphere. But even so, I had to force my eyes awake. Then all of a sudden, we heard three ginormous-sounding claps.

A tall, huge man had clambered up to this little stage. He had a long-ish beard with white shoulder length hair and the brightest blue eyes ever. He wore this long red shirt which he rolled up the sleeves to reveal impressive tattoos.

"_Dobro pozhalovat_, everyone. V'elcome to the School for Gifted Children. I am Nicholas St. North. I am teacher here, and speaking for behalf of our principal. He is currently… detained. Now I am sure you have many questions. Some of you may ask, "Why am here?" or "Why am chosen" and for boys out there, "Why is man have funny accent?"" the man said, chuckling when he said the last line, "But do not worry for I now will explain. Now, not everyone was chosen to come here. You children have something very special inside of you. I am not just speaking to boost spirits up. I mean, you are different from other children."

When the man said the last line, he grew very somber and serious. Jack felt a twisting feeling in his stomach. He had always known he was different, but he had never known that there was more of him. People and kids just like him, who was different and had never known why. Jack turned to face Merida and Hiccup. Merida looked stony-faced at the man, her blue-green eyes piercing his. Hiccup however looked shocked and even a bit hopeful. The muscular elder waited for the news to seep in. It was like the whole room was shocked to the core. Then the man cleared his throat and continued.

"It is our job to teach you about your different power. Well, we can teach you how to control it, but to enhance it, that is your job. After this talking, you will follow my friends and colleagues. You must go through three tests. How you solve the tests, however, helps the teachers determine your power. Some may be obvious. But others may be hidden," the man said, pausing before he said hidden.

Jack heard a tiny little gasp behind him. But when he turned around, everybody's eyes were on the man. Then the full meaning of what the man said hit him. Tests? He had to take a test? Three? And he said solve the tests. That means that the man fully expected him, all of them to pass these tests. Even ace it. Jack felt a sinking feeling in his chest. He would fail. He hadn't even gone to school in the past 4 years. There went that opportunity. They would probably send him back on the train, back to Burgess and he would spend the rest of his life wandering Burgess, miserable and hopeless. Suddenly the warm room felt like it had dropped several temperatures.

"Frost, control yerself!" hissed Merida angrily before scooting away from him.

Jack looked down, he had caused icicles to form on where he was sitting and frost spread and touched the very corners of Merida's jeans.

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind and control his temperature. But it was too fuzzy. Merida had taken a knife from the table and was trying to scrape the frost from the bench. But occasionally she looked up when she thought Jack wasn't looking and her face would transform into worry. Hiccup looked at him with anxiety too. His face was all white and pale and Jack thought that he looked like he had seen a ghost. But parts of his face held determination and courage. He looked at Rapunzel who looked fearlessly at North. But he had seen the way that she had bit her lip with worry. Vanellope and Norman looked scared, but trying to look courageous. Jack knew he was going to have to try to pass whatever stupid test this North man was going to throw at them. Because this here was possibly the one chance he was ever going to have a real family. And this time, he wasn't going to screw it up.

**Ta Da! That was so short, unfortunately and I wish I could've made it longer. The next chapter is going to be the one about the tests. Sorry I lied to you about having the tests in this one. I am sorry Vanellope or Norman didn't get a lot of spotlight in this one. But don't worry, they will get some in the future. Don't expect any new updates coming up soon, just warning you. But hope you liked this chapter! It never hurts to review! Adios!**


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